The challenge

And naturally, in both my cities we are Occupying Wall Street! My son is chatting with Seattle activists who are taking turns live streaming from the various locations in Seattle, wanting to know what’s happening over here. Yes, of course it’s happening!

Although, today the big news in Seattle is the closing of the Highway 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct, this 1950s landmark for modern mankind encaged in their transportable tin can-home on wheels. Yes, while the eastern part of Strandgatan in Umeå is about to open, Seattle is facing a day dreaded for years. The Viaduct is eventually going to be replaced with a deep bore tunnel, and this 9-day close down now is the first step for an historic change. The southern mile is going to be demolished, and about 90 000 vehicles a day will have to make other choices to make their way through the city. Even on a normal day Seattle traffic is so tight one single incident can cause heavy build-ups in every direction. So, close to a hundred thousand vehicles suddenly all lost and out of their normal pattern… what’s to expect? Nobody really knows, a challenge certainly though, which for sure will keep the local TV stations overly excited and busy in their covering for a while!

Seattleits are advised to drive other routes, park and ride, take the water taxi, ride the bike or hop on the bus. The Metro bus system is bringing in an extra 30 buses to provide an alternative to the car. And, Seattle, here is a tip from the very north of Europe to make the buses more attractive: As the first city in Sweden Umeå is providing free WiFi on the local metro buses. And we would love copycats! I bet Seattle buses would be jam-packed all day long, noses deep down in Blackberries and I pads, connected shoulder to shoulder as well as by radio waves. So come on Seattle, high tech capital and home of Microsoft, a small city close to Lappland is challenging you on this!